(MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 5, 2018) Former Minnesota Speaker of the House and current President and CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association Margaret Anderson Kelliher today announced her campaign for U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.

“I will bring a positive, issues-focused campaign to the Fifth District that will show government can work for all people,” Anderson Kelliher said. “My experience in the Minnesota House shows that when we work together, we can build a better future for everyone and that is what I intend to do in Congress.”

Anderson Kelliher served 12 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, including two terms of Speaker of the House where she was known for her ability to work with legislators from all across Minnesota and find pragmatic, future-orientated solutions. Kelliher was a leader in the Minnesota House on numerous areas important to Minnesotans, ranging from health care to transit and from technology to jobs and from renewable energy and the environment.

“While in the Legislature, I brought people together to help make Minnesota a leader in health care and access to health care. We paved the way for health care for all and I will continue in Congress to advocate for health care for all,” Kelliher said. “We created renewable energy standards that are proving that clean energy is possible.”

A lifelong Minnesotan who grew up on a family farm near Mankato, Kelliher has called the Fifth District home for more than 28 years. She is married with two adult children.

“As I’ve worked with educators, non-profits, businesses, and the faith community, and met with people throughout the Fifth District, I gotten to know this district and what its needs and opportunities are,” said Anderson Kelliher. “We have a vibrant, diverse district where good things have happened and great things will happen. Minnesota and Minnesotans have a lot to offer in showing the nation what we can do when we are focused, inclusive, and working together.”

As president and CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association for the past eight years, Anderson Kelliher has focused on building Minnesota’s high tech infrastructure and promoting STEM education throughout Minnesota.

“My passion is in bringing people and technology together to find new solutions to create new opportunities, new solutions, and next-generation jobs,” Anderson Kelliher said. “My passion to create jobs and educate the workforce of the future will improve outcomes for everyone. We will drive our district, our state and our nation forward when I am elected to Congress.”

Under Anderson Kelliher’s leadership, MHTA has focused on creating new pathways for young people to connect to the careers of the future in technology, launching initiatives such as the SciTechsperience internship program, the TechHire Initiative, and Creating IT Futures program.

“Together with the high tech community, we’ve moved the needle for hundreds of people here in the Fifth District and across Minnesota. The future opens up for young people when SciTechsperience interns learn in a STEM environment or the TechHire Initiative promotes pathways for diverse workers to access the training, support and job opportunities our State has to offer,” Kelliher said. “Taking these and other proactive, job creating, community-building concepts to Congress will help share our future.”

As she starts her campaign in earnest, Anderson Kelliher will be reaching out to people throughout the Fifth Congressional District to urge them to join her positive, inclusive, issues orientated campaign. Anderson Kelliher will announce a formal campaign committee in the coming days.